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Ask the Remodeler: The blueprint for planning a project
A short breakdown of the steps we think are necessary for a successful development process.
Something that still surprises us when meeting with potential clients are their expectations on timelines for planning and starting a remodeling project. While some smaller remodels are simple with fewer moving parts, most involve almost all the trades along with multiple suppliers and vendors that all impact planning and scheduling.
We are a design-build firm that is typically brought in at the beginning of the planning stage. We work with the client and architect from the start of the planning process, not after plans have been drawn up. With this approach, the project comes together in a way that embraces the architect’s vision together with our company’s ability to incorporate those ideas in a way that fits the client’s budget. When the design process is complete, we have a project that fits the client’s taste with their budget and desired scope of work. For most of our typical projects this takes at least four months, more for larger-scale projects. Permits are filed after the development work is complete.
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A short breakdown of the steps we think are necessary for a successful development process:
Choosing a contractor/designer: As a design-build firm we help bring in an architect that will work well with a client’s personality and design goals. Some firms have an in-house design team. We believe the team should be vetted and chosen prior to drawing up plans.
Schematic design: This is where we think the clock starts on design/development once the team is in place. Detailed measurements of the existing space are taken. Schematic design is essentially a rough draft of finished plans. Quite often, it incorporates more than the client is prepared to take on at this time, but allows us to potentially rough in utilities for future projects. This is also the sometimes uncomfortable phase, where the project gets pared back in size/scope because it is exceeding the budget or running into potential zoning issues.
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Zoning regulations can grind the permitting process to a crawl, adding many months onto the start date of a project. The end of the schematic design phase should result in the project that meets all the parameters for the client and allows us to start bringing in subcontractors. This will typically take 4-6 weeks.
Design-development: At this point, our company starts bringing in the subcontractors and suppliers to determine how the project will actually be built. This is a key part of any development: Having all the subs come through with the schematic plans in hand allows us to find potential problems before the work starts. It allows us to refine the exact scope of work together with a much tighter budget and schedule.
Quite a few of the trades overlap, so getting everyone on the same page is critical. While we are putting together the nuts and bolts of the project, the clients are selecting products and the architect is fine-tuning the plans. There are quite a few showrooms that need to be visited, so this takes quite a time commitment from clients. We are very involved with things like kitchen and bath cabinet design meetings. Plumbing and tile showrooms can be visited as much or as little as the clients like.
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Most lighting is chosen online these days. We work very hard to have as much product selection done as possible at the end of this phase. Some of the final choices could have an impact on installation costs, and product lead times are very important. Throughout this part of a project, we are keeping the client apprised of where the budget and schedule is going. We don’t like surprises, and we know our clients don’t either. This process should take 6-8 weeks.
Final documents: If we have all done our jobs during the previous phases, this is more of a formality. We will have taken all the information gathered regarding pricing, scheduling, and lead times, and put that together in a very detailed contract/addendum and project schedule. The architect will have finalized the plans into construction drawings that can be submitted with building permit applications. This typically takes 3-4 weeks.
Once the contract is finalized and signed, it can be submitted along with the construction drawings for a building permit. Cities and towns vary, but most permits will take 30 days to get approved. More complex projects can take substantially longer.
All to say, proper development of a project takes longer than many people realize. Over the years, we have found it to be time well spent. Our clients get a finished product they love with a project that runs smoother and stays tighter to schedule and budget.
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Mark Philben is the project development manager at Charlie Allen Renovations in Cambridge. Send your questions to [email protected]. Questions are subject to editing.
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